The Glass Castle
A memoir-inspired family drama follows a daughter torn between loyalty to her charismatic, neglectful parents and the stable life she has built without them.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- sentimental
- melancholic
- intimate
- reflective evening
- memoir adaptation night
What critics said
Critics broadly found the real-life story affecting and Brie Larson's performance committed, but judged the adaptation too sanitized and emotionally overdetermined.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Rex and Rose Mary frame poverty and instability as artistic freedom while Jeannette and her siblings endure unsafe living conditions.
Adult Jeannette's engagement and professional life provide the frame through which childhood experiences are revisited.
Jeannette admires Rex's intelligence and charisma while confronting his alcoholism, volatility, and failures as a parent.
The family's impoverished, frequently mobile childhood is set against Jeannette's later life in finance-oriented New York.
Films like The Glass Castle, and why
Captain Fantastic
shared focus on unconventional parenting, poverty, family loyalty, and a child coming of age under unstable adults
Infinitely Polar Bear
shared autobiographical family dysfunction, parental neglect, and a conflicted adult child seeking emotional independence
The Florida Project
shared memoir-based drama about poverty, parental failure, and a daughter's complicated reassessment of her family
Movie Details
- Director
- Destin Daniel Cretton
- Release Date
- 2017-08-11
- Runtime
- 127 min
- Rating
- 7.1 / 10 (918)
Cast
- Brie Larson
- Woody Harrelson
- Naomi Watts
- Max Greenfield
- Sarah Snook
- Ella Anderson
- Sadie Sink
- Robin Bartlett
- Chandler Head
- Iain Armitage
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Lionsgate+ Amazon Channel, Howdy Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Glass Castle about?
- A memoir-inspired family drama follows a daughter torn between loyalty to her charismatic, neglectful parents and the stable life she has built without them.
- What is The Glass Castle like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Glass Castle as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Glass Castle violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Glass Castle as mild.
- What did critics think of The Glass Castle?
- Critics broadly found the real-life story affecting and Brie Larson's performance committed, but judged the adaptation too sanitized and emotionally overdetermined.
- Which films are like The Glass Castle?
- Films with a similar feel include Captain Fantastic, Infinitely Polar Bear, and The Florida Project.
- How long is The Glass Castle?
- The Glass Castle runs 127 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Glass Castle?
- In United States, The Glass Castle streams on Lionsgate+ Amazon Channel, Howdy Amazon Channel.
